Early voting this year running 15% ahead of 2012

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Catawba College Political Scientist Michael Bitzer follows early voting in North Carolina better and more comprehensively than anyone. Here's what he's seeing through Thursday, Nov. 3:

With three days to go for in-person absentee balloting, registered Democrats have just about caught up to their cumulative 2012 numbers, down only 0.8 percent. Registered Republicans are well ahead of their 2012 numbers, up 11.1 percent, but the truly remarkable line on the above chart is from registered unaffiliated voters: up 42 percent from the same day totals in 2012. That's your wildcard for the 2016 election so far.

Among the racial composition of all absentee ballots, white registered voters continue to be 72 percent of the ballots, with black voters at 22 percent. However, black voters have been a higher daily percentage of the ballots, trending between 27 and 28 percent of the ballots. All other races are now at 7 percent of the total.

Overall, the total accepted in-person absentee ballots are running 15 percent ahead, continuing to build up. Registered Democrats are now only one percent behind their 2012 total numbers from the same day in 2012, while registered Republicans are 20 percent ahead of their numbers and registered unaffiliated voters are 46 percent ahead, continuing to increase their percentages.